Team 99 Counties: Find a route and follow it

Editor's note: Daren Schumaker of Cedar Rapids and Dennis Lee of Walford are attempting to run across Iowa's 99 counties to raise money and awareness for the American Heart Association. They've completed 88 counties. This is No. 87. Next: Appanoose

The shortest distance from here to there, and from there to here, is a straight line.

In fact, as most of us know, the shortest distance between any two points always is a straight line. However, the shortest distance is not always the most direct or even the best route to take when traveling from here to there, or from there to here.

Some routes may require you to travel a greater distance, but also allow you to travel more quickly. Other more direct routes may have detours and be under construction, becoming so bogged down with other travelers that progress slows to a crawl. Some routes may be so difficult to travel that many are forced to turn back and seek an alternate route. When selecting a route, one must carefully weigh their options and remember that the most important goal of any type of travel is to arrive safely at the destination.

On Dec. 20, we slipped out of Cedar Rapids at 7 a.m. and headed north along Interstate 380, chasing the hazy horizon to Highway 20 where we started to work our way westward. Before long we headed north and passed through Dows on our way to the intersection of Wright Avenue and Highway 3. We recalled how we had finished our run across Wright County at this exact location more than four years ago before heading east and entering Franklin County at 9:35 a.m.

Despite the lack of snow on the ground, the 16 mile per hour wind out of the south-southwest reminded us it was still December, pulling the temperature below freezing as we shuffled through our first few miles along Highway 3. The terrain remained flat and our run uneventful as we passed over Interstate 35 during our fifth mile and turned south to run a half mile into Coulter during our sixth mile. In Coulter we jumped onto the crushed limestone of the Rolling Prairie Trail, following the slightly uphill pull of the trail eastward into Hampton, passing under Highway 3 during our 12th mile.

We arrived in Hampton as we completed our 14th mile and returned to Highway 3 where we passed the Franklin County Fairgrounds on our way to the Franklin County Courthouse. After posing for our obligatory photographs, some taken by a local who wanted to learn about our cause, we circled the block and returned to our eastward march along Highway 3, intending to return to the Rolling Prairie Trail sooner than later.

After completing our 18th mile we decided we were ready to return to the Rolling Prairie Trail, only to learn that it was too muddy to travel. We continued to follow Highway 3 for another two miles before again attempting to return to the Rolling Prairie Trail, only to learn we would have to run a third mile to a crossroad that would allow us to access the trail. Finally, after completing our 22nd mile, we turned north on Vine Avenue and ran a little more than a mile to the Rolling Prairie Trail, only to find our route more closely resembled a rocky and unmaintained railroad bed than a trail.

The last three miles of our journey passed through empty cornfields and skirted a nature preserve, with some portions so rocky they required our complete attention to traverse without rolling an ankle or falling to the ground. As we pushed to the finish, we literally stumbled upon a railroad bridge we tiptoed across for the last 25 feet of Franklin County, luckily avoiding a fall into the cold water passing under the bridge. We crossed Franklin County, our 87th, in 3:45:41 via a 26.4-mile route.

You can take many routes to get where you want to go. No matter how long or difficult a route might be, it is successful if it gets you where you want to go. As we crossed Franklin County, we didn't take the shortest route, the fastest route or even the easiest route. But we did take a route that got us where we wanted to go, and that is what is most important. Not distance. Not speed. Not degree of difficulty. Success is what is most important.

Many routes can lead to where you want to go, but one route must be taken. Inaction leads nowhere. If you want to become physically fit and make your health a priority, pick a route to your goal and take it. You have to get out on the road if you ever want to arrive at your destination. Some trips will be longer and more difficult than others, but you can't get where you want to go if you never leave the house. Each route to success differs. Remember just because you may not be on the same path as others, or traveling at the same speed, doesn't mean you're lost or you won't arrive at your destination.

Select a route, any route, and start your journey to heart health and physical fitness.

Inspiration through perspiration. Become active or make a donation to Team 99 Counties or the American Heart Association to help fight heart disease today.

l To make a donation or buy a T-shirt, email Dennis Lee at telcoden@yahoo.com